This site, like many others, uses small files called cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on this website (Cookie Policy). However, if you would like to, you can change your cookie settings at any time.

From the Archive: a cello by G.B. Rugeri of Cremona

This illustration of a cello by G.B. Rugeri was published in The Strad, June 1982. The following text is extracted from the article accompanying the photographs:

This cello has a distinguished history. It was brought from Italy to pass into the possession of King George IV and then to the Duke of Cambridge; they were followed by a series of notable collectors and the cello became known as the 'Lancashire Strad'. By 1895 it had passed from Richard Bennett, another distinguished collector, to Hill's, and now at long last Hill's decided its real attribution was to G.B. Rugeri of Cremona.

Questions of authenticity apart, this is a truly beautiful instrument. The body length is a little short at 28 5/8 inches, but this is atoned for by bold dimensions elsewhere. The instrument is finely fashioned of handsomely figured wood, the two-piece back is in an almost perfect state of preservation and to quote W.E. Hill & Sons words: '...an exceptionally fine example of the maker's work, covered with varnish of a golden colour'.

Topics

Related articles

Colombian cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia, who was recently presented with the 2018 János Starker Award here performs his own transcription of the Chaconne from Bach’s Partita no.2.
This video was made at the Luis Angel Arango Hall in Bogotá on 13 August 2017.

Icelandic violin maker Hans Johannsson gives a talk exploring ‘a fascinating juxtaposition of an age-old traditional craft on the one hand and the pursuit of science and technology on the other’, filmed at a TEDx event at the Tjarnarbíó theatre in Reykjavik on 4 November.
The listing for the talk

German/French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt plays the Sarabande from Bach’s Cello Suite no.1 in G at the Bimhuis Amsterdam
This is an excerpt from the 29 November 2015 edition of ‘Vrije Geluiden’ (Free Sounds), a programme on Dutch public broadcaster VPRO.
More on: http://www.vpro.nl/vrije-geluiden